UN International Human Rights Day

International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In 1950, the assembly passed resolution 423 (V), inviting all states and interested organizations to observe Dec. 10 of each year as Human Rights Day. This is one of the most important international human rights instruments ever produced by the United Nations and it has been the inspiration and model for all other human rights conventions, charters and codes that have been adopted since. This year’s International Human Rights Day will feature a number of speakers who will underscore the significance of the UDHR and this year’s theme, “Our Freedoms, Our Rights, Always.”
Speakers for this panel presentation:
James C. Simeon is head of McLaughlin College and an associate professor in the School of Public Policy & Administration (SPPA), Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University. He is a member-at-large of the Executive of the Canadian Association for Refugee & Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS) and a past president of CARFMS.
Michael Creal is a professor emeritus in the Department of Humanities, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University; (founding) Chair of the Southern Ontario Sanctuary Coalition; and member of the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University.
David Leyton-Brown is former head of McLaughlin College and professor emeritus in the Department of Politics, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University.
Lesley Wood is an associate professor and Chair in the Department of Sociology, York University. She is interested in how ideas travel, how power operates, how institutions change, how conversations influence practices, how people resist, authorities act and how these patterns are tied to broader relations of power.